Check out these two new courses on the Clean Water Academy that may be of interest to conservation district staff!

Course: MS4 Minimum Control Measures (MCMs) 
Municipalities and other entities with separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit coverage are required by their MS4 permits to implement a Stormwater Management Program (SWMP) to reduce the discharge of pollutants from their MS4, protect water quality, and satisfy the water quality requirements of the Clean Water Act and Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law. This course will provide an overview of the six Minimum Control Measures (MCMs) that must be included in a permittee’s SWMP. Completion of this course is recommended for municipal staff and their consultants, local environmental groups, and any other interested members of the public.

Course: Legacy Sediment Removal, Floodplain Restoration, and Permitting 
This webinar provided a historical background on legacy sediments within Pennsylvania. It also included a discussion on principles of floodplain restoration as well as permitting considerations for legacy sediment removal and floodplain restoration projects.

Please email Jay Braund with questions jbraund@pa.gov.

Brianna (Bri) Woods graduated from Juniata College with a major in environmental sciences/studies and a minor in politics. She worked with the PA Outdoor Corps and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania before accepting the Conservation Technician position with PACD. Promoting economic conservation practices that help the community and the environment has been Brianna’s career goal since graduating. She also enjoys hiking, camping, collecting cool rocks, playing guitar, and spending time with friends and family.

Bri can be reached at bwoods@pacd.org.

The 2022 Fall Leadership Webinar Series is scheduled for November and includes lunch & learn opportunities for district staff and directors.

The Tech Roundtable series is an opportunity for district personnel to share, discuss, and learn about technology-related topics relevant to conservation district work. The fall meeting on Wednesday, November 2, from Noon – 12:45 p.m. will continue focusing on digital media tools, techniques, and planning for districts involved with DIY content production.

There will be a CliftonStrengths for Managers Debrief meeting on Wednesday, November 9, from Noon – 12:45 p.m., where management staff will share how they are using their new understanding of CliftonStrengths to manage their teams, and discuss options and ideas for team-building events for district staff in 2023.

Directors and associate directors are particularly encouraged to tune in for the Building Blocks of Trust presentation on Wednesday, November 16, from Noon – 1:00 pm. River Network and the WaterNow Alliance are nonprofit groups working together to improve water quality nationally. They have partnered to develop a set of best practices for establishing and maintaining the trust-based partnerships critical to protecting our waters and achieving sustainable water systems. To gain a more complete understanding of what is needed to build lasting trust between community organizations and local water leaders, they partnered on the Building Blocks of Trust study. They focused on answering three questions: What is required to create these partnerships, under what circumstances do they succeed and flourish, and how can we seed more of them? April Ingle, Policy Director for River Network, will share what was learned from their study of successful partnerships and how we can use these lessons to catalyze even more vital partnerships for healthier rivers and communities.

The Fall Leadership series is open to all district and partner personnel – visit Building for Tomorrow to register.

Financial and other support for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program is provided through a grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission. Guidance for the Program is provided through the Pennsylvania Conservation Partnership’s Leadership Development Committee.

Mark your calendar and join us for the PACD spring region meetings! All meetings will be in-person with a virtual option.

The region meeting dates and locations are as follows:

March 24, 2022 | 9:30-11:30a.m.

PACD South East Region Meeting

Location TBA (virtual option is also available)

 

March 25, 2022 | 10:00 am – Noon

PACD North East Region Meeting

Schuylkill Conservation District, Pottsville, PA (virtual option is also available)

 

March 31, 2022 | 10:00 am – Noon

PACD North Central Region Meeting

Clinton County Conservation District, Mill Hall, PA (virtual option is also available)

 

April 8, 2022 | 10:00 am – Noon

PACD South Central Region Meeting

Cumberland County Conservation District, Carlisle, PA (virtual option is also available)

 

April 21, 2022 | 10:00 am – Noon

PACD South West Region Meeting

Westmoreland Conservation District, Greensburg, PA (virtual option is also available)

 

April 27, 2021 | 10:00 am – Noon

PACD North West Region Meeting

Tionesta Church of God, Tionesta, PA (Forest County) (virtual option is also available)

Instagram posts now available

Recognized by both the Pennsylvania State House and Senate, April 18-24, 2021, will be “Conservation District Week.” During this week, district offices will hold educational events, conference calls and virtual meetings with legislators.

Conservation district resources are available here.

Resources include:

• Social Media Images 
• Press Release 
• Fact Sheet (Word) 
• Template Letter to Legislators (Word)
• Template Proclamation (Word) 
• Follow-up Thank You Letter (Word) 

Please take advantage of these resources PACD created for conservation districts to use.

Pennsylvania’s conservation districts thank Governor Tom Wolf and members of the PA House and Senate for supporting the districts through the state budget.

The 2021 New Manager Training Program will feature a hybrid format, including online and in-person instruction focused on manager leadership, district administration, and partner programs. Online sessions are scheduled for Wednesdays starting May 19 and run through August, and the program wraps up with a pair of in-person workshops scheduled in conjunction with the Management Summit in September.

This year’s program is open to all district managers who started in their position less than three years ago. Assistant managers who have been approved for this training by their district and the Leadership Development Program may also participate. For more information, please visit the Building for Tomorrow website, or contact Leadership Development Coordinator Matt Miller at mmiller@pacd.org.

Financial and other support for the Building for Tomorrow Leadership Development Program is provided through a grant from the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission. Guidance for the Program is provided through the Pennsylvania Conservation Partnership’s Leadership Development Committee.

PACD members and partners are reminded to register for the spring PACD region meetings, which begin this Thursday, March 18. Registration for all six web meetings is free and required. To register, please email mburns@pacd.org for the registration link.

PACD North Central Region Video Conference
March 18, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD South Central Region Video Conference
March 24, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD South East Region Video Conference
March 25, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD South West Region Video Conference
March 30, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD North West Region Video Conference
April 8, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

PACD North East Region Video Conference
April 16, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. to Noon

 

To help residents keep local lakes clean, the Pike County Conservation District is hosting a free, three-part webinar series titled “How Your Backyard Activities Affect Your Lake.” The webinars include:

• June 23: Ways To Help Your Lake Stay Healthy; 
• July 21: Homeowner Tips To Protect Clean Water; and 
• August 25: Getting To Know Your Drinking Water. 

The webinars are free, but registration is required. Click here for more information and to register. 

From Ashely Lenig, written by Janette Lesher
Reprinted from 9/9/19 USDA NRCS PA Weekly News Flash

The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Northumberland County Conservation District (NCCD) offices recently worked together to hold an outreach event in the Warrior Run Watershed as part of the newly selected National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) initiative.

The Warrior Run basin is a priority watershed of the USDA-NRCS and is targeted in the NWQI program. Agriculture is the dominant land use in the Warrior Run Watershed. Riparian buffer zones are nearly nonexistent in the agricultural lands. Livestock also have unlimited access to streambanks in parts of the watershed, resulting in streambank trampling and severe erosion. Producers in the watershed consist of English, Amish, and Mennonite farmers.

As our team began working on a Watershed Plan, we discovered there was a large sector of producers with whom we had not worked. We knew if we wanted to work with them, we needed to get to know them. It was decided to have an ice cream social – homemade, of course!

Recently, we met a landowner whose farm is located next to Warrior Run, so we knew that it was the place we needed to bring farmers together. After explaining our plan to him, he said: “Invite them, and they will come.” Without using any flyers or news releases, the farmer simply invited his neighbors over to his farm.

As we were preparing for this event— expecting 10-15 producers—the landowner told us we had to step up our game, because about 50 people had told him they would attend. Ryan Cherwinski, NCCD Ag Technician, did not disappoint anyone as there was plenty of delicious homemade ice cream to go around.

As NCCD and NRCS staff served ice cream, families sat by the stream. Gary Walters with DEP was gracious enough to demonstrate electro-shocking on the stream. As he began catching fish, the farmers lined up on the stream bank to see what was in the buckets. Clusters of producers started to gather around agency staff to learn about stream health, best management practices, and what we are trying to achieve in the Warrior Run Watershed. As the parents listened and asked questions, the children were able to get their feet wet and help with a macroinvertebrate kick in the stream. NCCD Watershed Specialist Chantel Shambach helped the children identify what they found.

Once the families got back on their bikes and rode home to their farms with a new appreciation of the watershed in which they lived, NRCS and NCCD staff packed up their supplies and left with 50 new friends and many contacts of farmers to visit in the next few weeks. Who would have ever thought that a meeting with no flyers, no PowerPoints, and no set agenda would be successful? Our team had some hesitations but is certainly thrilled with the outcome. We look forward to doing other similar events in the watershed again.

Many thanks to all those on the team who helped make this a successful event:
NCCD Ag Technician – Ryan Cherwinski
NCCD Watershed Specialist – Chantel Shambach
DEP Water Quality Division Chief – Gary Walters
NRCS Civil Engineering Technician – Pam Richardson
NRCS Soil Conservationist – David McCoy
NRCS District Conservationist – Janette Lesher

The PACD Spring Region Meetings are coming soon! Please review the announcement for your region meeting using the link below and be sure to RSVP to the host as directed.

Topics will include the state budget and environmental stewardship fund, conservation district week, third party reviewer legislation, a motion from the PACD Ways and Means Committee concerning a potential dues increase, a PACD building update, and an update to the PACD Directors Listserve.

PACD North Central Region Meeting
March 14, 2019 
Clinton County Conservation District Office, Mill Hall, PA 

PACD South Central Region Meeting
March 19, 2019
Cumberland County Conservation District, Carlisle, PA

PACD North West Region Meeting
March 27, 2019
Mercer County Conservation District, Mercer, PA

PACD South West Region Meeting
March 28, 2019
Westmoreland Conservation District, Greensburg, PA

PACD South East Region Meeting
April 4, 2019
Henning’s Market, Harleysville, PA

PACD North East Region Meeting
April 5, 2019
DEP Northeast Regional Office, Wilkes Barre, PA